It wasn’t until the age of four that I knew my father. He had come to our Sydney home for the first time since I was born, only to find my mum in bed with another man. The man of the hour didn’t last long in the punch-up that followed. My dad left him cold on the floor with a busted nose. Then he turned to mum and yelled at her, the other man already forgotten.

“Our home?” she growled back. “This stopped being your home from the point you walked out Mark. There is no ‘our’, ‘we’ or ‘us’. There hasn’t been for a very long time.”

“Don’t turn this around on me Abby. I left because of you in the first place. You weren’t happy with what we had. I had to leave to make you happy. I left to earn enough so you and the kid didn’t end up living on the streets.”

“IT WASN’T ENOUGH! You left me to raise the girl by myself. I did what I had to in order to survive.”

“And this is surviving? That’s bullshit! You could have done something else for Merlin’s sake. What sort of mother are you? Raising the child in a place like this?”

“Like you could do any better,” Abigail snarled.

“I’m positive I can do better.”

“You’re a pureblood elitist and an ex-Death Eater from England who’s on the run. What sort of an environment would you call that?”

“It’s still better than a whore’s house!”

With that, Mark Blackwell pushed his way past Abigail as she slung verbal insults at him. He approached the bed that I was laying on and hovered over me. There was three of him, all of which were out of focus.

“What in Merlin’s Beard have you given her to make her like this?” He had lifted my shoulders up, causing my head to flop backwards. I didn’t have the strength to keep it up.

“Just something to make her sleep,” my mum said shakily.

“That’s Firewhiskey you good for nothing bitch. She’s drunk!” I whimpered. His voice was so loud. Not to mention that it sounded different, not like the normal drawl that mum used. The man picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, causing my head to throb painfully, and my stomach to churn.

“Wait, no! You can’t take her!”

“I can and I will. At the very least she’ll be away from the place you’re running here.”

My mum barred the way. “No you don’t Marcus, you’re not taking Vanessa! I swear I’ll make you pay!”

“I look forward to it,” and with that he walked out the front door, pushing past mum and leaving her behind. I didn’t have the strength to try and escape, for even cry out. The last thing I saw of my mum was her standing helplessly in the middle of the road as we walked steadily away from her. Then everything went black.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting across from the same man that had taken me away from my mum.

“Where am I?”

“On a train,” was the reply.

“Why?”

“To get a job.”

“Why do you need to get a job?”

“Another job means another meal.” That shut me up for a bit.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your daddy.”

“No you’re not! Don’t lie!”

“I’m not lying,” he said tiredly.

“Yes you are! Where is my mum! I WANT MY MUM!”

The man was angry now. “You can’t have her. She’s no good.”

I stared back defiantly. “I. Want. My. Mum.”

The man lent forward and whispered, “You. Can’t. Have. Her.”

I screamed then. People would call it a tantrum. I was crying and screaming for my mum. The man paid no attention. I stopped after a while. I was used to getting attention when I behaved like that. Besides, my sore head was back.

In the months that followed, we travelled Outback Australia. Dad would get a job working on one of the properties so we could eat, so we could survive. As time went on, I stopped trying to run away as I began to understand why she was ‘no good’. But at the same time, my dad had only taken me to spite her. Yet, no word came that she wanted me back. Over time, my dad and I became less and less like strangers, and more and more like family. In the end the other was the thing we depended on the most.

Dad told me his story of why a misplaced Englishman was backpacking his way round Australia. He had been a follower of Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard in history. Towards the end of Voldemort’s rein he had doubted their mission and turned on them, giving valuable information to the other side. Afterwards, he had to flee in order to save his life, and those he cared about. And even after the Great War, he couldn’t go back. Death Eaters were still trying to hunt him down. But over time, the threat lessened until the point where it was safe for him to return home. Only, by then, home was Australia. He had fallen in love with a woman, in love with this country and he never left.

But that all changed when I got my letter to attend Hogwarts. Dad brought us back to the Motherland. It had been over nineteen years; it was time to return and face the past. Of course, it wasn’t easy for my dad. Either way he lost. He lost the country he loved, or he lost me.

He chose me.

A/N: Yep, Vess is back, re-edited and better than ever. Hold tight to your broom-handles, this is going to be one emotional rollercoaster for our protagonist.

Disclaimer: All recognisable Harry Potter content belongs to JK Rowling. The plot and OCs belong to yours truly. The backstory for Vanessa was inspired by the 1987 Australian TV Movie Series, The Shiralee, directed by George Ogilvie.